John Mendoza’s debut feature, Adventures of a Catholic Atheist, tells the story of a Christmas at which 27-year-old Martin Garcia finally tells his devoutly Catholic family that he doesn’t believe in God. Naturally, all hell breaks loose as the various Garcias try to balance their blood ties with the blood of Christ. Adventures stars Carlos Leon, who has appeared in The Replacement Killers and The Big Lebowski but is perhaps more familiar as the man who fathered Lourdes Ciccone, Madonna’s baby. "What Martin does is no simple rebellion," says Mendoza. "It’s a decision not to accept the church as the ultimate authority over individual life – and you can extend that to rejecting any orthodoxy."

Mendoza, 35, was born and raised in tiny Amarillo, Texas. Earning a photography degree while in the Marines Corps, he began screenwriting during college at Cal State Northridge and started his film career as a Paramount Studios page. The first feature script he completed, an Attila the Hun biodrama, made news in 1994 when Arnold Schwarzenegger flirted with a starring role; meanwhile, Mendoza moved on to jobs in casting at Paramount and development at Disney. Because Adventures is such a highly personal story – one Mendoza says mirrors his real experience coming out as an atheist to his die-hard Catholic parents – he decided he had to direct it himself and sold his house to finance production.

Adventures was shot in Los Feliz, Los Angeles in 35mm over a tight 12 days in December 1997 with a 40-man crew and SAG actors. The film sports a soundtrack driven by rock en espagnol, the rebellious Latin rock form whose representative bands major labels have lately been scrambling to sign. At press time Mendoza was raising finishing finance through an LLP and weighing the possibility of transferring his digital cut to film in order to come up with a festival print. All rights are available.

Cast: Carlos Leon, Tony Perez, Irene Olga Lopez, Tricia Cruz, Karmin Murcelo, Abe Alvarez. Crew: Producers, John Mendoza, Jen Liu; Executive Producers, John Mendoza, Barbara Zavala-Mendoza; Screenwriter/Director, John Mendoza; Cinematographer, Frederick Iannone; Gaffer, Russell Caldwell; Wardrobe, Bob Perez; Editor, Terry Kelly. Contact: Mendoza Entertainment, 6404 Hollywood Blvd. #327, Hollywood, Ca 90028. Tel: (323) 464-7168, e-mail: MendozaEnt@worldnet.att.net.

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Adventures of a Catholic Atheist - John Mendoza
Bullfighter - Rune Bendixen
The Citizen - Jay Anania
Hit and Runway - Christopher Livingston
Jesus’ Son - Alison Maclean
The Photographer - Jeremy Stein
Wang Dang - Tom Noonan
The Young Unknowns - Catherine Jelski